Of Mice and Men Extended Ending
by micronerd01
Summary: Extended ending to Of Mice and Men, written as an assignment for my English class. What happens to Lennie after he's shot.


I took George to get a drink. On our way, I assured him that killing Lennie was all for the best. Knowing Curley, Lennie would've gotten a slow and painful death, and I could tell that Lennie was almost like a brother to George and that George wanted to put Lennie out of his misery and at least give him a happy death. Even though he doesn't show it, I can still tell that if there were anything George could do, he would've done it.

So I decided to go to Crooks about it. "Crooks, you still into that voodoo magic?"

Crooks smirked, "Yessir, Slim. I still am. Whaddya need?"

I argued with myself a minute before finally saying, "I need you to bring Lennie back. I know it'll make George happy to see him again. I jus' can't stand seeing him like this."

"It'll be hard, but I'll try. It's been a while since I last done it." With that, he went off into the corner, gathered some wood and water, started a fire and started chanting to himself. I thought I heard something about an after effect or something, but I shook it off, taking into account that I'm getting old and hearing things.

Afterwards, we chatted a little bit and then I decided that I'd keep George company for a few more days. I wasn't sure if I believed in what Crooks had done until I saw Lennie walking towards the farm we now reside in, as I had joined in on the land agreement.

I shook George awake. "George! Wake up! It's Lennie!"

"What's wrong with you? He's dead. I killed him and now I'm going back to sleep. Leave me alone."

Lennie comes through the door and approaches us. "Hi, George. Where're the rabbits you promised?" He had the saddest look on his face, as if we'd forgotten about him.

George's jaw dropped so far down in shock, I was worried it'd fall off. "Lennie! You're… alive? Am I dreaming?" He pinched himself. "Guess not. How are you here?"

Lennie responded desperately, as if he hadn't heard George. "Where're them rabbits, George?" In response, George shot up and motioned for Lennie to follow. I followed as well, curious as to where they were going. Behind the house was a small little place where George had kept some rabbits in memory of Lennie.

"Here are your rabbits, Lennie. It was a lonely life without anything to remember you by, even with the other guys here." George and Lennie were in their own perfect world now; I stood behind them, unnoticed. Lennie crouched down and gently stroked some of the rabbits while George stepped back, still watching him. For a moment, George stepped out of that world and spoke in my direction. "Slim, what'd you do to get him back?"

"I knew Crooks had a background in voodoo, so I asked him if he could bring Lennie back. I can tell how empty you are without him and Candy and I agree that we hate seeing you so depressed, even if you don't show it much."

All of a sudden we hear a short, quiet scream and a crack. George and I turn and look at what's going on in Lennie's direction. He had bit off a part of the rabbit and started frantically apologizing to George. I had a look of shock on my face and then realized that when Crooks brought Lennie back, he had brought Lennie back as a zombie. Just as Lennie was about to reach for another rabbit, I yelled out, "George, don't let him have another! This was the side effect I'd heard Crooks mumbling about! Crooks had mumbled that Lennie would come back as a zombie and bite what he pets, we have to stop him!"

Quickly, George told me to go get a gun while he kept watch over Lennie to make sure Lennie wasn't destroying anything. I ran back to the house, got a rifle and handed it to George when I got back. George tried to lull Lennie back into a happy place again, but Lennie turned around and growled at George, his mouth starting to foam. I backed away and closed the door so I could see but I wouldn't be noticed.

The second I saw Lennie's head turn, a shot rang from the direction they were in. George had done it again. He dropped to his knees and embraced Lennie, sorry for what he had done.


End file.
